The Good Guys?-Ben Affleck’s The Accountant (2016)-A Film Review

DVD Review

By Sam Lowell

The Accountant, starring Ben Affleck, Anna Kendricks, John Lithgow, 2016         

Every once in a I check out more modern up to date films that strike my interest (normally I am stuck in a long-term project to revisit the black and white beauties from the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s mostly suspense and noir), usually if venture into that territory it is on the recommendation of a fellow movie devotee or has a star that might carry the film if the plot gets bogged down (a recent example, the latest remake of The Magnificent Seven with Denzel Washington and an ensemble cast carry a thin plotline). The film under review, Ben Affleck’s The Accountant, is an example of the former and the friend was not mistaken not only in Mister Affleck’s compelling presence but the twists and turns of this thriller.              

Here’s why I thought it worth recommending. Chris Wolff, Ben Affleck’s role as the autistic child turned adult hit man extraordinaire who still suffered the heartache of that disability from his military father’s refusal to get him experimental help as a child. The old man thought that young Chris (and his brother) should “man up” and this was the result. Now hit man Chris was a mathematics exemplar and thus found himself working as an independent accountant hand and glove for whoever who paid the freight. And the guys who were willing to pay the freight were some of the most wretched criminals on the planet who were worried that somebody in their organizations were “cooking” the books. Chris did his work well, working with a voice who directed his actions (who that “voice” was you can find out if you watch the film I will never tell because, well, because I don’t want to be blown away by a methodical vengenceful autistic hit man whose code of honor I have offended)         

Of course when you are working hand and glove with the wickedest of the wicked the government, here the Treasury Department, would deem you a “person of interest”-if they could find you. Find you in the person of a senior G-man running a young black agent with a checkered past to do the serious finding they (really she) finds out who he is. But not before Chris has blown away half the thugs in the universe (he was offing them so quickly I couldn’t keep the body count). He finds out from the “voice” that the government is on his trail, that methodical young black female agent working her magic under extreme duress,   and told to cool it for a while.  

Naturally Chris does taking on a legitimate project to find out who is embezzling serious money from a high tech robotics company headed by Lamar Blackburn (played by John Lithgow). The cooked books were discovered by the company’s accountant Dana, played by Anna Kendricks, who was in over her head in trying to find the problem, a problem that needed to be solved quickly since the company was in the midst of an IPO which would bring the company billions. With those high stakes Chris’s finding the missing link drove the rest of the film and dramatically increased the body count. Guess who the guy was who was very interested in making sure his company’s IPO went off without a hitch. And guy who also had a very serious interest in keeping Chris from spilling the beans. And guess who the guy was who hired his own hitmen to keep things quiet. And guess who the hired hitman was. Yes, you can figure all that out now. Remember though what I said about the voice. See this one if you have a couple of free hours.